Tabouleh (grain free, gluten free)

I'm not sure how much of an expert an Italian can be on Tabouleh, but I CAN say I love this stuff!  It's light and refreshing and even tastes good along side a mound dollop of White Bean Hummus.  I adore Middle Eastern food.  Actually, I enjoy a variety of ethnic foods.  OK, I just enjoy food.

You probably know that Tabouleh is made with bulgur wheat, which, of course, is a grain not allowed in my big fat grain free life.   

Just when despair had set in, I found a recipe in my new, amazing cookbook, Eat Well, Feel Well by Kendall Conrad for Tabouleh without bulgur.  She actually explains a brilliant technique of pulsing zucchini in a food processor until it resembles tiny grains of bulgur wheat.  Fantastic.

Kendall's Eat Well, Feel Well cookbook contains over 150 mouth-watering recipes that are all SCD compliant.  It has given me hope that a restricted diet doesn't have to restrict our taste buds.  The book has received rave reviews - even from one of my favorite "Italians" Giada.

Here is my "interpretation" of Kendall's Tabouleh recipe.

Tabouleh (grain free, gluten free)

Ingredients:

2 bunches of curly parsley, washed and trimmed of stems

4 scallions, chopped (green and white parts)

2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and chopped

6-8 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped

2 zucchini

juice of 1 lemon

olive oil

sea salt & pepper to taste 

Instructions:

Spin parsley in salad spinner to remove excess water.  By hand, finely chop parsley.  (Not my preference to use a food processor here.  It can turn the parsley to mush.)  Put parsley, scallions, cucumbers and tomatoes in a large mixing bowl.

Trim ends of zucchini.  Cut into large chunks.  In food processor fitted with blade, add zucchini and pulse until it resembles fine grains.  Add to mixing bowl and toss.

Add fresh lemon juice and olive oil to taste, coating well.  Add salt and pepper; taste and adjust seasoning.  Cover tabouleh and marinate in fridge for at least an hour.